Minor League Baseball Play By Play Man Quits On Air

The Lake County Fielders are a minor league baseball team that plays their baseball in Lake County just north of Chicago in the North American League. The Fielders are partially owned by actor Kevin Costner, known for his own Minor League baseball exploits in Bull Durham. The Fielders also happen to be the worst run organization in professional sports. Yes, even worse than the LA Clippers, Dodgers, or Mets. Earlier this month, former MLB manager Tim Johnson and LCF players quit over not being payed by deadbeat managing partner Rich Ehrenreich. Acting manager Pete LaCock (bwahaha) then produced one of the most ridiculous baseball games known to mankind against Jose Canseco’s Yuma Scorpions earlier this month. I’ll let Matt Lindner (who also sent in the clip) of Bloguin’s great baseball blog The Outside Cornerexplain…

What unfolded after was one of the most bizarre baseball games on any level. Acting Fielders manager Pete LaCock put out a sort of opposite day lineup, with pitchers playing in the field and position players pitching. Canseco responded in kind, wanting to level the playing field and leaving his team with a battery consisting of himself on the hill and former Rays outfield prospect Joey Gathright playing catcher for the first time in his life. LaCock’s debut as Fielders manager would prove to be his swan song as well, as he wound up quitting himself following the game due to the payroll dispute.

In a testament to just how strange this game actually was, Canseco pitched more like former teammate Dave Stewart than he did when he made his Major League pitching debut for the Texas Rangers, a start that ended in an arm injury requiring Tommy John surgery. Canseco used a knuckleball to hold the Fielders’ makeshift lineup to one run en route to an 8-3 victory before a reported crowd of several thousand surely bewildered fans.

Last week, the Fielders made minor adjustments to the roster, trading nine players and releasing fourteen more. The Fielders play in a makeshift temporary stadium outside Chicago and there’s no word on if the new roster of players are actually getting paid or not (they have lost 5 straight but remain 25-20 on the season). To add to all of the insanity, Fielders play by play man Qumar Zaman (seen here trying out for the Wrigley Field PA job) then took it upon himself to quit his job on air after a recent game. Listen and be thankful that you don’t work for the Lake County Fielders…

I love this speech. It’s not a psychotic or angry rant, but more in the defiant martyr category. I immediately thought of CM Punk when I heard his “voice of the voiceless” quote, and that connection was confirmed when Qumar brought up him and his buddies getting together to watch the Money In The Bank PPV. Awesome. (CM Punk FTW!) Qumar exposes the embarrassment of the Fielders front office and talks about nearly everyone associated with the Fielders not receiving a paycheck. He even throws in the Murrow slash Olbermannesque “good night and good luck” to close on a high note. The awkward applause in the booth ends his on air resignation perfectly. Where’s Crash Davis when you need him.

About Matt Yoder

Award winning sportswriter at The Comeback and Awful Announcing. The biggest cat in the whole wide world.